Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Louisville Jane Austen Festival 2013

OMG a post! Hell surely must have frozen over!
Well not really, I'm just for once not busy sewing! Jane fest lies behind me dear readers and with that my work load is less severe and you can now expect more regular posts from me. I think.....
Anyway the Festival was a great success! The sun was shining, there was a breeze and all was beautiful! I had a new set up, a fantastically pimped pop up tent, that actually fits in the back of Volksemort the bewitched black Volkswagen Passat!

All this needed to fit in my car plus the tent myself my friend Erin and our personal luggage!

And magical me made it happen!

I am the Queen of car Tetris!!!

For the first time I was not sharing my vending space, which is good because I barley had enough room for all my goodies as is, sharing the space would have been a disaster!

The fantastic sign my husband made for me with his woodcarving machine.

My fancy new shop set up.

Some of my goodies, don't you love the India bling?!!

The draped ceiling of my tent was pretty spiff if I may say so myself.

For some reason I only sold one of these beautiful shawls I imported all the way from India. Perhaps it was too hot?

The T Shirts where a big hit though.

All went off really really well! Rain had been predicted for the entire weekend but it held off until about one hour after I was done packing up my tent! How's that for good luck!?
What really struck me was seeing so many people walking around the festival wearing things I made, it's pretty amazing! like i send my dresses and bonnets into the world and they come back to visit me!

Amy looks amazing in this bonnet I sold her, it's like it was meant to go with her dress!

I made these two dresses from some of the cotton Saree's I brought back from India.

Unfortunately I did not see much of the festival as I was mostly stuck at my store or teaching bonnet making workshops. I did however see the promenade parade by my booth, which was nice people watching!

The promenade going by my tent.

Saturday night we had a massive Pizza delivery debacle where they delivered the pizza to the wrong hotel and we sat around waiting for it....which caused us being an hour late for the grand ball. We did end up getting free pizza at midnight!
I wore my new sari ballgown to the ball, made from one of the silk Saree's I brought home from India. Unfortunately I did not get any good pictures of it.

A very fuzzy cell phone pic of my new dress.

Kathy in the gown and open robe I made for her.

And Carolyn wearing one of my used to be sari creations, do you recognize the sari?

Obligatory shoe shot!

Marble columns are so classy!

Kind of like a regency dance pole...

This is what hunger and marble columns does to us....

On Sunday I was able to to attend my dear friend Maggie's bridal tea which was really lovely.

I arrived bearing gifts.

Maggie arrived in a sedan chair!

She arrived in a litter which is the height of cool and I received the cutest shower gift ever! A bottle of smelling salts for my reticule how cute is that!!!!!?

smelling salt package

Smelling salts, totally cute!

Look it's the top of my bonnet!

I think she liked the hat I made....

While I was away my awesome friends Erin and Reva held down the fort for me at the shop. I am so very thankful for such wonderful friends who will brave the heat, help set up and break down and sell my stuff for me, I'm truly blessed with the best of cohorts!
And it turns out Reva is the champion of regency hustlers! That girl can sell iceboxes to Eskimo's I swear!

Reva being fabulous!

Unfortunately my cameras battery died at the ball so I don't have that many pictures, so many thanks to my friends who let me steal theirs!
Now I leave you with some additional impressions from the Festival.
And a link to some scrumptious professional photos taken at the festival.http://www.graphicenterprises.net/html/jane_austen_festival.html

My outfit for Saturday, I remodeled an old dress by adding an extra puff to the sleeve, but what really made the outfit was the antique bonnet veil!

At the shop

Julie made this beautiful gown from another one of those cotton Saree's that I got in India. all together there where 4 people running around in those.

Julia, who owns Bingley's Tea has the cutest set of spaniel puppies one kept laying down on the train of my dress.

Erin bought a walking stick for her husband, we just called it the pimp cane. Erin's Pimp hand is strong!

You make me giggle now, you made me giggle at the festival :} Am so glad it went so well for you. Your shop was a true treat to browse, and Erin and Reva were really cool too. I've met Reva before -- she knows my mother at Ashland Estate!

Hooray for all the sales, and for all the fun, and for the rain that held off and the pizza that finally arrived.

However, you neglected to tell everyone about the little biting gnats...yeow!

About The Bohemian Belle

This Belle isn't really "Bohemian" in the geographical sense( actually I'm German, but more about that later...) I'm more Bohemian in the common sense of the word. A free thinking , unconventional lover of of art, life and history. A full time Mama and part time free lance costume designer. Wife of a Physicist, and yes my life is really like The Big Bang Theory.
I'm a Living history enthusiast and Regency aficionado. Who is obsessed with historical costumes and period movies. I have my own little business making historical clothing and accessories.
Born and bred in Germany i have a noteworthy love of beer and sausage (as in the meat product) and think anything German is superior to anything else, well not really but we do make good beer and sausage...
This Blog will be mostly about my costuming and living history activities, but also my everyday musings about life. I can't promise regular posts, you see as hinted in the sub title of this blog I'm rather lazy.. But I do promise I will make said posts as entertaining as possible, if you are into costuming history and sausage that is.....